


Betrayal

by wingedScribe



Category: Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Hurt No Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 17:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12709368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingedScribe/pseuds/wingedScribe
Summary: Do you stop loving someone, just because they've betrayed you?A drabble written for the prompt Preservation/Ruin; "I thought I could trust you."





	Betrayal

When Leras had come to Ati, he’d finally looked like himself again. Of course, in some way they always retained a bit of their original appearance–a bit of the people, the men they once were, instead of whatever they had become–but Leras looked human, eyes full of love and not fathomless knowledge, and when he’d pulled Ati down into a kiss, the shifting mist contained within his skin had been almost completely still and silent. It made Ati–the part of him that was still aware, and he was never sure how much of himself that was–self-conscious, aware of how his own barbs must be cutting into the other man’s skin, but Leras hadn’t complained, pulling Ati back when the man tried to pull away for a moment. 

“What’s this about?” Ati asked, voice light. Affection like this had been–rare, since their transformation. Part of that was just that, if they touched too much, if they got too close, it felt like they were walking on the edge of a knife, inches from slipping and cutting themselves–or, even worse, the other person. Leras’s smile in return was melancholy, and he looked away for a second. “Leras?” 

“I was just…I’m sorry, about that last fight,” he admitted, voice quieter than it usually was. “We shouldn’t fight–we don’t know how long we have, after all.” As always when he made some reference to that–to the fact that, bit by bit, the forces they’d subsumed were subsuming them, their personalities–Ati frowned, pulling him closer and pressing a kiss to the center of his forehead. 

“Hey, don’t say that. It’s just change, Ler–that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I still love you, after all, don’t I?” And, although they could be alarming, these changes–they’d let the pair of them build a new world, a beautiful one. Leras’ Shard was just making it hard for him to see that, was all. That was what the fight had been, after all–a volcanic eruption, beautiful and primal, had finally erupted, spreading new ground across the land–and, unfortunately, destroying the existing landscape and a town or two.  _But it was so beautiful._

Leras couldn’t see that, but that was alright. 

Leras did look up at Ati, smiling, and Ati was struck–as he had been years ago–by the fact that Leras–Leras was beautiful. Like a sunset, light on turbulent water, that volcanic eruption, the collision of tectonic plates, the artwork of Hemalurgy– _some part of Ati wondered when this had become beauty to him, the rest of him didn’t worry–_ Leras was gorgeous, breathtaking in the best way. And, unlike most of the other things, he didn’t get mad now when Ati pointed it out. 

“I know,” Leras said, smiling and wrapping his arms around Ati, a solid warmth against the taller man. “I love you too.” He leaned up, kissing Ati again, and for a moment they could have been mortal–they could have just been two ordinary people in a world that hadn’t gone to hell yet, falling in love. Something deep in Ati’s heart ached at the thought. 

Leras pulled away for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice had taken on the slight shift that meant Preservation was present. “That’s why I’m so sorry.” 

Ati didn’t have time to process the words before Leras’s arms locked around him like a vice, the other man’s form vanishing into silver mist that was as solid as chains. 

“What–Leras?  _Leras?”_ Ati could hear his own voice break, and he shoved against the bonds, feeling the dark spines unfurl from within his skin, the earth of Scadrial shuddering as he pulled against the bonds. “Leras, what are you  _doing? Let me go–”_

“I’m sorry,” Leras’s voice, without a clear source, repeated. It was just Leras again, and Ati could tell the other man was on the verge of tears. “I’m so sorry, Ati–” 

Ati felt the brush of lips against his own, one final time, and then there was only silence and the horrifying claustrophobia of realizing that, regardless of his power, he was trapped, held in one place by his lover’s silver mist. 

“Leras!” He yelled, rage starting to take the place of surprise. “ _Leras! Let me out!”_ There was no response, and Ati could feel himself starting to shake, his skin unraveling and losing its composition, the dark energy of Ruin bursting out of him in jagged lines as he understood what happened. 

_Our deal. Our deal–he’s going back on it, he’s trying to stop me–_

“ _I loved you,”_ Ati whispered as he continued to unravel, voice breaking as his bones liquefied, turning to a droplets of dark metal. “ _I thought I could trust you.”_

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, all that remained was Ruin. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally over on my tumblr as a requested drabble; I figured I would crosspost it over here before it got buried on my blog. If anyone wants to see more cosmere content from me/my liveblogs of various books/general yelling, I can be found at preservationandruin on tumblr.


End file.
